"This outstanding and much-needed book fills a major gap in the homeopathic literature on children. It provides insights into nearly 60 remedies which Frans Kusse has found to be most useful for children.
Based on a solid foundation in classical homeopathy and Dr Kusse's own extensive clinical experience, it also incorporates Scholten's cutting-edge work with the Periodic Table. It is the first book in English to introduce Scholten's ground-breaking work to the general public. Written in a conversational style, it invites parents to discover their children's type and to explore the many ways that homeopathy can help their child.
For homeopathic practitioners and students, it explains how remedies well known in their adult "portraits" will manifest in children (not always easy to determine from the existing literature). Finally, it introduces some newer remedies that the author has found to be as useful as polychrests for children, such as Beryllium, Saccharum, and Lithium phos. The photos illustrating the children's types are a stunning addition." -- Begabati Lennihan, RN, CCH, Director, Teleosis School of Homeopathy
The old standard work by Borland on homeopathic child types has finally found a worthy modern successor to rework the subject matter and extend it by drawing on the author's own personal experience. People have often asked why there's no book which, apart from describing the well-known major child remedies, also covers the new remedies particularly well-suited to treating children. We are particularly pleased to be able to offer such a high-quality book to all those interested in homeopathy. Remedies such as Beryllium, Lithium, Manganum, Helium, Hydrogen, or Saccharum officinale are often indicated for children, but so far they have only been described in the treatment of adults or scattered through the professional journals.
The personable Dutch doctor, Dr Frans Kusse, was ideally suited to such a task due to his extensive clinical experience with children and his tireless commitment. We are now proud to present his successful Dutch work for the first time in English. Due to the outstanding clinical quality of the book, we did not simply want to leave it at a translation. The high caliber of the 57 remedy descriptions made it worthwhile to enrich the book with photographic portraits - homeopathic typology in particular can benefit from such portraits. From our practice in Kandern, we were able to add 47 photographs of children.
Most remedies have two characteristic pictures, which often show astonishing similarities as a pair. These are almost all long-standing cases that responded very well to the remedy in question, mostly repeatedly and with excellent effects when the remedy was given again months or years later. The first constitutional-typological photos of homeopathic remedies came from the German doctor, the late Dr Beuchelt, from whose work several photos are shown here with the kind agreement of his family. We sincerely hope this enchanting book will help all colleagues, interested parents and grandparents, teachers and psychologists to recognize the child remedies shown!
- Author: Frans Kusse
- ISBN: 9783939931911
- 270 pages
- Hardback
- Published in 2011
- Printed in Germany
Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths, from The Homeopath Journal, Summer 2010 edition. Reviewed by Anjum Rahmatulla.
This is a slim, well bound hardback, with an eye-catching picture of a child on the front cover. The author, Dutch doctor Frans Kusse, describes 56 different constitutional remedy pictures, old favourites as well as newer remedies such as Beryllium, Lithium, Manganese, Helium, Hydrogen And Saccharum Off. Included in each remedy picture are the origin, the main themes, physical symptoms and food and drink. Some of the remedy descriptions include black and white photo-portraits of children to enhance homeopathic typology. There is a very short repertory at the end and a short chapter on Restless Children in the Clinic. Ear and Eye Complaints and Skin Complaints.
The author has written this book not just for homeopaths, but with the interested parent/grandparent/teacher/psychologist in mind who wants to learn more about remedy pictures. It is clearly written and easily understandable by the interested layperson. My 16-year old daughter was instantly drawn to the book by its front cover and quickly read up on her and her siblings' remedy types with enthusiasm. For some remedies, there are examples of children treated, with a brief history of the child, the presenting complaint and the timescale of the treatment and results.
I have found the book informative and interesting to read. It would be ideal to dip into when considering a prescription, especially for the newer remedies. The photographs do not work for me unfortunately. To understand the spirit of a child we need to see how they sit, move about, relate to their carer and siblings, play and a lot more. A photograph does not capture all that, so I do not find them useful. But that is a minor criticism. The descriptions of the newer remedies are a valuable and a welcome addition to the homeopathic treatment of children.
For the informed parent/layperson, I would guess that this book would be interesting to read, and certainly easy to understand. There is no jargon, and the explanations about homeopathy and how it works are short and concise. Whilst Dr Kusse encourages parents to treat their children for acute conditions, he is very clear about recommending a professional homeopath for chronic conditions. It is not a cheap book, being hardback, but it has a nice feel to it, covers many remedies and is well written. If you treat a lot of children, it would be a worthwhile buy.
Reprinted with the permission of The Alliance of Registered Homeopaths. From the Journal 'Homeopathy in Practice', Spring 2012 edition. Reviewed by Elizabeth Adalian.
I was drawn to the front cover of this book, a photograph of an engaging young girl with flaxen hair (a true representation of a healthily-treated homeopathic child). Children's Types covers 56 constitutional remedies, 28 of which are illustrated by 47 'typical faces', according to the view of the author.
This book was originally published in 2010 and this, the second edition, came out in 2011. (The publisher, Narayana, is not only prolific in its range of book titles, but also much valued for its professionalism.) The author is a Dutch homeopath who also wrote Homeopathic Types - the Most Important Constitutional Types with Photographs (see HIP Autumn 2011). The publisher's short foreword states that 'the old standard work by Borland on homeopathic children's types has finally found a worthy modern successor'... and I concur with this. The text highlights Kusse's coverage of new remedies such as Beryllium metallicum, Helium, Hydrogen, Lithium carbonicum, Lithium phosphoricum, and Saccharum officianalis, as well as the standard polycrests. The author then describes his target readership for this book - families with young children. The introduction covers the nature of homeopathy, its suitability for children and the child type, and when one remedy is sufficient, using as an example a case of a child never well since mumps where Parotidinum cleared the picture. It also discusses the provisos for self-treatment, or when to consult a professional homeopath. The text contains 'nuggets' which are invaluable to the professional homeopath but may be more difficult for the lay prescriber to understand. Therefore, I consider the targeted readership falls between two stools. Having said this, I found the author's style of writing to be animated and in-depth. His way of presenting each remedy according to its derivative (whether animal, plant, mineral, or disease tissue) is very clear. He then proceeds to describe the remedy's action according to the doctrine of signatures - and this is where the text comes alive. Then, he creates a simple catch phrase for each remedy as a way of memorising its action, for example Hydrogen: 'not yet down here on earth'.
He makes comparisons between different related remedies such as Barium carbonicum, Calcarea carbonicum and Graphites and he identifies regression in acute illness, such as fear leading to retention of urine and bed wetting. This latter information enables the lay reader to open their mind to the concept of emotional triggers as physical manifestations of disease. He makes an interesting differentiation between the two different derivatives of Anacardium; the Western one - Occidentalis (more targeted to the skin) and the Eastern one - Orientate (which is more frequently used by homeopaths). The author goes on to state that these two variants from two different places on the earth indicate the key characteristic of 'split' in this remedy. He suggests that the 'split' can occur in a child after parents divorce. Under Magnesium carbonicum (the orphan remedy), he mentions two lesser-known remedies with a similar theme - Glechoma hederacea (ground ivy or Creeping Charlie) and Oxalic acid. Apparently, in Germany, the traditional name for ground ivy is 'little orphan child'. This helps the homeopath break away from polycrest prescriptions. The progression of Hyoscyamus is particularly well mapped out with the final stage often culminating in 'aversion to water' - a distinctive uncommon symptom.
Following the different remedy descriptions, Kusse then illustrates some points with case examples. These include an eczema case treated with Tuberculinum, and an account of restless children observed in the clinic. In summary, the main remedies according to the author's experience include Tuberculinum, Lithium phosphoricum, Belladonna, Sulphur, Agaricus, Tarentula, Medorrhinum, Cina, Chamomilla and Saccharum (this being the order listed). He also describes the benefit of neutralising any medicines the mother took in pregnancy, 'ear and eye complaints in children', and 'skin complaints in the clinic'.
Finally, an Index covers the emotional aspects of the remedies covered in the book. I found this to be rather general, but it could be a useful adjunct to confirm the choice of a remedy.
On reflection I feel that this book, as well as Kusse's Homeopathic Types, is an insightful text which can be dipped in and out of with ease. Those remedies which were proved in a former era hold an application in our modern world. The author exposes this understanding within this small volume - a valuable 'sequel' to the 'adult version'
